It is time to name the elephants in the room – age and experience!!

There is not a week that goes by that I don’t hear from job seekers about how frustrated, angry or simply dumbfounded they are by their inability to land a job that suits their experience! Hiring managers are saying over and over again they are overqualified for the job which is code word for they are too old.

The next time you see those two elephants dancing in the background of your interview, you can make one of two choices:

Buy into the assumptions, questions, and concerns of the hiring manager. OR

Be prepared for the elephants and change your own mindset and responses in that situation.

Chris Farrell, (author of “Unretirement”) offers great advice when confronted with the “overqualified” response in an interview. Acknowledge the concerns that the hiring manager has and reassure them you are working for a better work-life balance and not another rung on the career ladder.

John Tarnoff, a nationally recognized career reinvention coach, offers a few tips to minimize the great age divide between you and the younger hiring manager.

Do not shut down or over react when ageism rears its ugly head.

Do not lecture or give advice to the younger manager during the interview.

Avoid telling stories about how things were when you were their age.

Remember you

are not here to impress them with all of your years of experience, but to be of service and to contribute to the organization.

I have heard from so many of our workshop participants that hearing they are too old or too qualified starts playing into their own self-identify and mindset. This is your time to shine and point out all that you have to offer an organization or team of people!

Here are some additional strategies to strengthen your mindset/ attitude and address the elephants in the room:

Talk about your character strengths and “potential “. A service attitude, a long term vision, strong work ethic, curiosity, flexibility, engagement, willingness to try something new. Another great article by John Tarnoff.

Keep up with the times. Be familiar with changes in the field, new technology, use of social media and realities in the workplace. Refer to Kerry Hannon’s book, “Getting the Job You Want after 50”, a great resource for all job seekers!

Market your age and experience as a plus. Being experienced means you are resourceful, a good leader, great networker, team player, and political savvy.

Be clear in your own mind and with your interviewer why you want this job. Clearly state your motivations and expectations for taking this job at this time of your life.

Show a willingness to learn, try something new, and adapt to this new way of work!

Finding a job in 2016 is a whole new ballgame with new rules and new skills to stay competitive with the younger generations and tougher job market. It means learning different ways to search, network, and interview. Most important, it starts with YOU. Have faith in yourself and adopt the right mindset. Build a great support system to pull you back up whenever you see those elephants in the room!

Encore Tampa Bay:

There are plenty of upcoming Encore Academy sessions along with our other Encore Tampa Bay network of resources/organizations that are ready to support you in your job search. Go to our website under Encore Resources for all the upcoming events and programs!

“ONE OF THE GREATEST IRONIES OF LIFE IS THIS: HE OR SHE WHO SERVES ALMOST ALWAYS BENEFITS MORE THAN HE OR SHE WHO IS SERVED!”- Gordon Hinkle

There has never been a better time for experienced adults in mid-life to consider volunteering as part of their “Un-Retirement” Strategy!

Here we are in the midst of a giant social change movement where over 80 million boomers are redefining what the second half of life is going to look like for them. The key drivers for this movement are around the notion of passion, purpose, productivity…and paycheck!. So we already know that the potential for tapping into this massive pool of talent and experience can only benefit and strengthen the non-profits in our community.

The benefits of volunteering:

Volunteering can help you develop new skills. (such as leadership and technical skills)

Volunteering can provide you with more experience and exposure to working in a non-profit environment . Research done by the Conference Board found that over 35% of non-profits hire directly from their pool of volunteers and board members.

Volunteering can be good for you physically-decrease in mortality rate, increased mental functioning, lower rate of depression, not to mention increased happiness!

Volunteering can help you zero in on your true purpose and passion.

Volunteering is a great way to network with other leaders and professionals in your community, especially if you are looking for a job!

Hiring managers in the for-profit and non-profit world value volunteering as a positive factor when reviewing resumes and Linked-in profiles. Research shows that 41% of hiring managers view volunteer work equal to work/job experience. (5 Ways Volunteering Can Help Your Career)

The key here is that volunteering is not simply a wonderful way to give back to your community and to provide meaning in your life but it can help you prepare for your next encore adventure!

Hopefully you are now ready to consider volunteering as an option for this second half of life. But how do you get started? Throughout the last three years where we have held events, workshops and discussion groups in our community, we hear loud and clear that people are ready to give of their time but they don’t know which non-profit to start with or how to connect with them.

Kerry Hannon (our ‘ENCORE CONNECT” event keynote speaker ) recently wrote a great article on “How to Find the Ideal Place to Volunteer” There are nine great tips that will help you find the right place and match your skills and interest with the volunteer assignment/job. Here are a few of these tips that are really important to consider when exploring your options:

It is important to know what you have to offer and identify what you think this volunteer experience can do for you. Do you want to find your true purpose, land a job at a non-profit, integrate your skills in a new way, or try out or learn a new skill? Take some time to understand what you want to achieve from your volunteer experience.

Decide on where and how you want to make a difference. Is it to work directly with the underserved population? Is it to work on a national level or work in the comfort of your own home?

Start with baby steps. Each non-profit has its own culture and it may not work the first time out. Treat volunteering as a pilot or a learning experience. Finding the right volunteer opportunity is like dating. It has be a good fit for both the individual and the non-profit.

Encore Tampa Bay Is Here To Help Connect Talent To Our Community:

One of the key components of Encore Tampa Bay’s mission is to connect encore talent to our community. Our Encore Connect event in March was a huge success with so many attendees asking for more opportunities to get face-to-face with their next “encore destination”.

Encore Connect: Opportunities in our Non-Profit Community

On June 17th, Encore Tampa Bay will be hosting another Encore Connect event (sold out as of 6/7/16). We have invited a variety of non-profits who are actively searching for volunteers, board members and paid part-time or full-time employees. This will be your chance to start the “dating process”!

Come join us for this great opportunity to meet face-to-face with some wonderful non-profits who are looking for encore talent.

Two weeks ago, Encore Tampa Bay hosted an event in our community called Encore Connect: Your Roadmap to What’s Next with over 260 people in attendance. The event was created to help mid-life adults (and beyond) connect to resources, organizations and experts that could help them along their “encore journey”. What we heard LOUD and clear was that a key pillar for this new world of “retirement” turns out to be work and continued income. Recent research shows that over 57% of recent retirees have less than $25,000 in retirement savings. That same research shows that it’s taking over 40 weeks for older workers to find new jobs.

Our keynote speaker, Kerry Hannon, gave us valuable tips for finding a new job, learning to love the job you currently have, or starting your own business as an alternative path for continued income. The facts and trends show us, that not all businesses are interested in hiring older workers. (Yes, ageism is alive and well!)

So maybe this is a good time to take a second look at starting your own business. There are many boomers already taking this career path. The latest research from the Kaufman Index of Start Up Activity found that the 55-65 age group is the fastest growing group of entrepreneurs. In fact, currently a whopping 52% of all new entrepreneurs are age 45-64!!

They are living longer and are able to be productive for longer periods of time.

They have a willingness to take risks because of their experience and sources of financial support.

Boomers have more contacts and a better chance to succeed.

Research shows that working and thinking leads to a longer healthier life.

It is the chance to realize a dream.

(I am adding a 7th reason!) There’s never been a better time to start your own business here in our Tampa Bay community! There is a surge of entrepreneur resources and programs to help you no matter what stage of business startup you are considering.

I would like to share with you just a few great resources, programs and opportunities for those of you who are ON the fence about starting your own business.

Your first great resource is My StartUp Tampa Bay. We created this website (along with The Community Foundation of Tampa bay and the Tampa Bay Caregiver Accelerator team) to help anyone new or experienced to learn what is happening and available in our entrepreneur community. You will find numerous ways to connect to experts, mentors, meet ups and other resources in Tampa Bay .

Secondly, there is BizStarters. I recently met with the CEO, Jeff Williams, who has dedicated the last 25 years to help those over 50 start their own business. Jeff has created a wide variety of online products and services, along with coaches to help you get started. Jeff has offered us the opportunity to participate in a free webinar – “Start A Great Business After 50”. In this webinar, Jeff answers the 10 most frequently asked questions from people who are considering becoming an entrepreneur.

Third, we have “Who Owns the Ice House?“ Last month I had the privilege of meeting the author and founder of this great entrepreneur program and book. The The Ice House Entrepreneurship Program is a simple but powerful 7 week program that teaches anyone at any age, how to turn an opportunity into a business. AND this program is being offered at the St. Petersburg Greenhouse (Saturdays only) from May 7 – June 18!

And lastly there is SCORE. SCORE taps into the talent of experienced business leaders and entrepreneurs! This nonprofit association is dedicated to helping small businesses start, grow and succeed and provides highly relevant workshops and one-on-one mentoring at no-cost to clients. Here is a list of current local workshops and other resources.

For additional great entrepreneur resources like the St. Petersburg Greenhouse, Women’s Business Center, Tampa Bay WAVE and TEC Garage, check out the Encore Tampa Bay Resources Page.

Our alliance with Encore Tampa Bay has made us aware that many baby boomers wish to keep working in a new style of retirement that includes earning income. But many might not have looked for a job in many years.

Finding a job used to be classified, as in classified newspaper advertisements. Help wanted ads also existed on job boards physically located in employment or Human Resources offices. Now job postings, job searches, and job applications are overwhelmingly done online. Because of these changes, Bevan asked us to offer perspective on the “new” job boards for boomers to assist their search for work as employees, freelancers, and flexible project specialists.

What are job boards?

Job boards are websites that match employers’ vacant jobs with job seekers. Most job boards use traditional job descriptions to entice prospective workers into full time employment opportunities. But we found a few that specialize in “alternate” work arrangements that boomers favor such as part-time, flexible hours, and contract work. The Bankers Life Center for a Secure Retirement’s research in 2015 documented that many boomers want “more flexible work arrangements and scheduling, and many try new career paths in different industries.”

What are the types of job boards?

Online job boards are categorized into four types.

Aggregators, also called job search engines, “scrape” the web for job listings. Indeed and SimplyHired are arguably the best known & most comprehensive with listings gathered from all other job boards and employers’ career pages. Indeed’s tag line is “One Search. all jobs.” SimplyHired also scours social media for job listings. LinkUp aggregates job listings from employers’ career pages only, which reportedly results in the most active, up-to-date listings with no duplicates.

General job boards rely on employers to post jobs on their sites. Employers have a wide variety of job boards to choose from. Monster and CareerBuilder may be the biggest.

Niche job boards may be industry or work preference specific. For instance, Dice serves employers and workers in the tech sector. FlexJob is for those who want flexible work hours while com offers seasonal and hourly work. Upwork and Freelancer cater to freelancers on a transactional project-by-project basis. TheLadders is for executives looking for new opportunities. Other specialized job boards that remind at least one of us(!) of staffing companies are in engineering (ThinkJobs.com) and legal work (Law Jobs). The nonprofit employment niche is covered by either national or localized job boards such as the Nonprofit Leadership Center of Tampa Bay.

Business social networking- job board LinkedIn may be unique, or not. The JobBoard Doctor blog claims that more and more job boards are copying LinkedIn’s social networking features bringing together employers, recruiters, current and potential employees to accelerate connection building for faster recruiting and referrals.

What makes one job board better than another?

A site we studied, Reviews.com, has identified 36 attributes to recommend the 15 best job boards from 197 online job sites. While the ratings they made could be disputed (because they receive revenue from some of the products/services they evaluate), their measures made sense to us. Factors they identified included:

How easy it is to browse for jobs on the site. Are the searches free, can the most recent jobs listed be the first ones to come up in a search? Is it possible to broaden the focus to national vs. international jobs? Is the site easy for job seekers to comprehend and use or cluttered and confusing with other revenue producing ads for the job board?

How robust the search features are. Can one filter by city or zip code, experience, job title or job type, or other focusing criteria, and save searches to expedite future job scans?

How job searchers benefit from establishing a job board account. Is there valuable content, does it distinguish between employers, and does it have features such as tailored job criteria, filters for focusing a job search, easy upload and storage for resumes, and email alerts to notify job seekers of new job postings?

Career resources. These could include specialized forums, tools to improve resumes, interview preparation, discussion forums, and salary information. Some might be more important to some job seekers because of their career development phase.

User friendly help and support. Does the job board provide a FAQ section or email support?

Mobile capability of job boards. Are the same information and features available on mobile-optimized websites for tablet and smartphone users on-the-go?

Other factors depend on a job seeker’s needs. An aggregator such as Indeed or SimplyHired offers a big-picture of job availability within a geographic zone or industry. Personalized career tests offered by some job boards would help job seekers understand their interests and skills. This insight could be valuable to those re-entering the workforce after a long absence. Once work opportunities are identified, a job seeker might want a job board that could assist with specific information about potential employers as Glassdoor does with salary information and employee reviews. If a job seeker wishes to stay in a well-defined industry, a niche board specializing in that industry could be the fastest way to find work coupled with connection building on LinkedIn for employee referral assistance.

How effective are job boards?

Job boards are not a panacea. Lisa’s blog post in January notes that “The effectiveness of job boards for those seeking employment depends on whom you read, as statistics range from less than 10% of users getting jobs to 20% of all hires from Job Boards (for example, CMO.com from Adobe believes the stats are less than 10% while USGreenTechnology.com states 20% of all hires are from job boards).”

Also remember that job boards, and most mid-to-large sized employers, use Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) to weed out resumes so job boards will not be effective for you unless you optimize your resume for these systems. See our blog on ATS to learn more.

Another of our recent blog posts cites studies showing that employee referrals far outpace job boards in hiring decisions as 50% of job hires flow from referrals. In today’s world with social media and the internet, job seekers would be wise to use a number of tools in combination. These tools include job boards and employers’ career pages, employers’ pages on LinkedIn & Facebook, and Twitter streams to get as much information and as many human connections as possible to potential employers.

In closing

What has been your experience with job boards? Do you have a favorite? What job board assistance have you found to be most valuable?

The New Year is the perfect time to step back and reflect on the past year and identify what you want to accomplish in the upcoming year. When people reflect on the past the biggest questions they ask is “What did I accomplish?”

I would like to add a few other equally important questions:

Did I accomplish my goals and check off everything on my to do list? Success is often measured by job status, wealth, influence and busyness.

Did I spend most of this year focused only on advancing my goals while sacrificing time with family and friends?

Was it all work and no play?

Was I busy pleasing others and neglecting myself?

Did I get stuck in this place of doing what I have always done, something safe?

Did I constantly live in the future instead of being fully present in the now?

PURPOSE

The most important question we can ask ourselves at this time of year and time of life is: “Am I living my life on purpose?” Dr. Richard Leider, author of “The Power Of Purpose”, says that living on purpose is a choice that we make every day. Living on purpose means becoming aware of who we are and what we bring to life each day. Dr. Leider suggests a good place to start living on purpose is to ask the question: “Why do I get up in the morning?” This requires taking time everyday for a brief moment of reflection, being still and asking this important question. Meditation or sitting quietly in the morning works best for me.

Now don’t get me wrong. There are lots of obstacles in this fast paced digital world and there never seems to be enough time in the day to get it all done! But taking time for that inner stillness can provide clarity, help you discover your true self and purpose and really understand the true person you are trying to become?

I resolve to embrace uncertainty rather than avoid it. The world of work and life has changed dramatically. It is time to explore and embrace new trends and tools in business, technology and work.

I resolve to seek opportunities in changing conditions. Dealing with change is hard but if we can begin to see change as an opportunity and to identify the benefits for that change we will be ready to move forward.

I resolve to stop and reflect on my second act. Carve out time at the beginning of the day to reflect and make adjustments moving forward. Journaling and Meditations are great ways to capitalize on this inner reflection time.

I resolve to remove and improve. This is a perfect time to not only talk about what you want to start doing but also to identify what activities and relationships you want to drop.

I resolve to make friends with risk. This means stepping out of your comfort zone and taking action instead of letting the future just happen to you. This may mean going back to school, learning new technologies, starting your own business or following your dreams.

Encore Tampa Bay is committed to help you take that next step on your encore journey. We have been creating a wonderful network of individuals and organizations that can help connect you in three ways:

Connecting to who you really are and your true purpose.

Connecting to each other. You don’t have to go on this journey by yourself!

Connecting to your encore.Whether it is learning new skills, finding part time contract work, connecting to a non profit to share your talents and experience, or starting your own business.

CHECK OUT OUR WEBSITE FOR UPCOMING DISCUSSION GROUPS AND PROGRAMS THAT CAN HELP YOU TAKE THAT NEXT STEP AND TO ACHIEVE YOUR NEW YEARS RESOLUTIONS!!

On June 24, Senator Susan Collins chaired a special Senate hearing called, “Work in Retirement: Career Reinvention and the New Retirement Workscape”. The purpose of the hearing was to emphasize that working longer greatly enhances financial security for older individuals and strengthens the economy as well. Labor force participation for adults age 65-69 rose from 18% in 1985 to 32% in 2014. People want to stay longer in their jobs, they want to remain active and make a contribution.

Top challenges that older workers face in the workplace are: out of date skills, age bias and an increased risk of becoming disabled while still working. In a recent book, “Unfinished Work: The Struggle to Build an Aging Workforce” Andrew Coleman confirms that not enough is being done by government and employers to update older worker training and address age bias. Coleman points out, “When you work with an older employee day in, day out, you see him or her as a full person. You see a job applicant as an old person. That’s why it takes someone 50 or older almost twice as long to get rehired after a layoff as a younger person.”

Speakers at the Senate hearing encouraged government and employers to assume greater responsibility for retraining their older workforce. A recent report by AARP, “ A Business Case for Workers Age 50+” cites the cost savings for employers that retool the skills of older experienced workers rather than hiring and training younger workers. This report is full of further evidence to show the value older workers provide to businesses along with specific best practices for employers to leverage this talent. Another recent study done by the SHRM foundation found that older workers offered many advantages for employers including: more work experience (cited by 77 percent of respondents); more maturity and professionalism (71 percent), and a stronger work ethic (70 percent). The SHRM survey revealed that although these employers value their older workers, only 20% have implemented programs that address these demographic changes in their workforce.

Kerry Hannon, author, journalist and AARP’s job expert ended her testimony at the Senate hearing by saying, “I think we’re facing a tsunami of retirees who will find that they are going to outlive their savings. Working longer or working part time in retirement is a very important part of financial security for older Americans”.

I am optimistic about the future of work simply because we have started the conversation recognizing the demographic shift and identifying what is needed to create a win-win for both employers and older workers. Workers are ready to move into new forms of employment such as part time, project work or encore careers. Businesses are facing a large exit or brain drain over the next 10 years. Phased out retirement programs can be a very helpful solution to fill employer’s workforce pipelines and provide meaningful employment for millions of older workers.

I am also optimistic because the same conversation is going on in our national government where leaders are identifying specific strategies to address this shift.

And finally, I am optimistic that these and other recent surveys and reports keep highlighting the pioneers who are on the cutting edge and leading the encore movement to make meaningful change for American workers and businesses.

Encore Tampa Bay is committed to continue the conversation here in our own community. We will be hosting business forums and writing more articles that will shine the light on ways that employers can make the shift! Stay tuned – More to come…

Encore Tampa Bay is an initiative of the Community Foundation of Tampa Bay, a registered 501 (c ) (3) organizations. Donations accepted by the Community Foundation to support the work of Encore Tampa Bay are tax deductible.